Former Nevada coach Chris Ault considered moving Colin Kaepernick to safety, he said during a radio interview. / Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

Former Nevada coach Chris Ault, whose reputation as an offensive mastermind has grown exponentially with the proliferation of his Pistol offense, said during a radio appearance that he considered moving Colin Kaepernick to free safety after the former Nevada quarterback arrived on campus in 2006.

Said Ault, "I thought to myself, 'If he can't play quarterback, he looks like he's a good enough athlete that he could play free safety or wide receiver.' At that time, (Kaepernick) was maybe 6-foot-4, about 183 pounds, built like a fork."

Ault continued:

"He could have been a great free safety, without question. And you know, his freshman redshirt year, guys, he was OK. There was nothing that told us he was a special athlete. He threw sidearm a little bit. He's a great pitcher and he had that little pitching motion from the sidearm. We had to try to push that thing up. And he ran the Wing T in high school, he didn't run for a bunch of yardage. So he was just a really good athlete, but boy would he have been a heck of a free safety."

Kaepernick was also a heck of a quarterback ‚?? perhaps one of the best of the last generation of college football. A four-year starter, he ended his career as the only quarterback in FBS history to throw for more than 10,000 yards and gain another 4,000 on the ground. He is also the only quarterback with three seasons with at least 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing.

Can you imagine an alternate reality where Ault doesn't implement the Pistol and Kaepernick plays free safety?

Nevada doesn't win 13 games in 2010. Ault isn't known as the father of one of the great offensive innovations of the last decade. The 49ers, with Alex Smith under center, lose in the first round of the NFL playoffs. Kaepernick is a two-time all-conference safety who ends up starting for the Toronto Argonauts, then quarterbacked by Tim Tebow.